We still don’t know how developer Lew Wolff wants San Jose to help him build a football and soccer stadium at San Jose State University. His written proposal to city officials remains secret, even though it clearly is a public document under the state’s public records act.

The city council rules committee appeared to deadlock Wednesday over whether releasing the letter would cause more harm than good to the public interest. That’s the standard the city attorney set for the decision.

But the debate sidestepped the basic issue of open government. Arguing for secrecy, city staff and two council members seemed to assume the city can make good deals happen only in secret. The evidence is to the contrary. That point of view should be made more clear when the topic returns to the committee next Wednesday.

We know generally what Wolff is proposing. He wants the city to rezone 74 acres of industrial and commercial land to housing, and with the profits he would build the stadium. He may also want the city to commit money from its park bond funds to the project.

At this week’s meeting, City Manager Les White asked the public to “trust us” for a time. Here’s the thing with that. It hasn’t always worked out in the past.

Think of the proposal in 2005 to keep the original Earthquakes soccer team here. Revealed abruptly by city staff, it suggested spending $80 million on a downtown stadium and a subsidy for the team, possibly tapping the city’s general fund. Wouldn’t some preliminary discussion have prevented that embarrassment?

And remember when the council spent a year talking in closed session about a downtown ballpark, even buying land, without having a public-policy discussion on whether the location was the right one?

Then there’s the now-cliched Grand Prix example, the sudden $4 million subsidy which, by its sheer chutzpah, probably did more to erode public trust than the city’s garbage scandal.

Tired of rehashing the past? Let’s review the current proposal.

A year ago, the city council set in motion what was supposed to be a public process, including residents, to decide what to build in and around San Jose State’s South Campus. That has not happened. Now staff says it’ll take things public later this year – presumably after Wolff’s proposalis final.

It’s hard to say how far along things are. Chief Development Officer Paul Krutko said talks are in the early stages, but he said the city asked Wolff to put something in writing because details were getting so complicated.

That sounds to us like the point at which things should be public, especially since Mercury News Staff Writer Barry Witt already has written about aspects of the deal.

Krutko’s least persuasive argument was that Wolff’s document includes factual errors. When did that become a test of a public record?

It would be best if businesses and developers knew ahead of time that communications with a public agency will become public – an experience Wolff hasn’t had with San Jose in the past. Guidelines on how and when to disclose documents should be a topic for the Sunshine Reform Task Force.

But with the degree of public interest in the Wolff plan – and the proven tendency of this city to cut deals that ultimately fail to stand up to scrutiny – disclosure in this case is a no-brainer.